


Crossroads.

by theweakestthing



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: M/M, i was thinking about liminal space when i wrote this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-17 20:03:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10601220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theweakestthing/pseuds/theweakestthing
Summary: "It seems like you passed a crossroads just now, believe in the path you chose."





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EmeraldWaves](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldWaves/gifts).



There seemed to be endless miles behind him, so much he'd left in the wake of his ever growing ambition or whatever excuse he was using this time. Saruhiko sat in his car, waiting at the traffic lights, music flowing from the speakers. The sound didn't travel through him as it would others, in his whole life Saruhiko had only as much as bobbed his head to a tune. Snow was powdered and swept to the edge of the sidewalk so as though it didn't disturb the pedestrians or the drivers, he was just glad that the road was dry enough for him to drive upon.

 

That night, Saruhiko was leaving everything behind again.

 

He'd already forgotten the names of everyone he'd known in that small town, deleted and blocked their numbers from his phone. Everything he owned was packed into the car, it wasn't much and so it easily fit into the beat up ruin of car, it was all Saruhiko could afford and as long as it ran he really didn't care about the rest. The heap of crap, as Saruhiko had so lovingly christened it, rattled and chugged threatening to stall as the lights continued to stay red. He was headed toward a much more populated city, somewhere where he could be invisible and no one would ask questions if he paid for rent in cash. At least cheap hotel staff didn't ask questions.

 

The light turned to amber and then green, Saruhiko's car spluttered to life and it went down the road as it was supposed to. Street lights moved passed the window like strobes, he drove aimlessly until he found a built up cluster of high rises and began to search for the burnt neon lights of a love hotel. It wasn't long before the pink lights shot through the misty darkness like arrows, a calling card for the desperate and those that needed a place to become truly invisible.

 

Saruhiko pulled into the parking lot, pulled out the backpack and duffel bag from the car and shut it. The lock hardly worked, but who the hell would want to steal it anyways? The sad pathetic twist of metal was already beat up enough, Saruhiko felt as though he'd saved it from a broken home, in his mind it was a runaway just like him. The air was thick and his breath came out in sweeping puffs that curled like smoke in the frigid air, snow crunched under the soles of his tired boots. He walked into the reception, brought a room for an entire month with cash up front, the guy raised his brows for a second while Saruhiko only shrugged in reply. The clerk took his money, apparently that exchange of looks was enough, and handed him his room, he went up to the room shrugging his bags further up his shoulder. The hotel was just a simple high rise, no one would have noticed it among the other buildings if it weren't adorned in cupid's neon.

 

The room was exactly as Saruhiko had expected it to be, just passable, just clean enough to not make anyone staying feel dirty. He dropped his things onto the mattress, pawed through his meager belongings and pulled his laptop from the back pack. Half written thoughts and shallow musings blinked at him long into the night, Saruhiko wrote things that he'd only half felt and things that he pretended weren't true. Sometimes he found even himself insufferable, he clicked his tongue before he shut the laptop closed.

 

He rose from the bed, mattress dipping and creaking beneath him, he approached the window and peaked out through the curtains. The sun was rising over the horizon of cold concrete buildings, it cut the land in jagged shadows and made Saruhiko wince as it pierced through the spaces between the buildings. He wondered if he'd slept, maybe there were a few moments through the night where he'd nodded off and had been caught by sleep's dark tendrils. He wasn't the kind of person that found solace in sleep, he understood that his body needed rest but every second of sleep was a step closer to death, Saruhiko was more the kind of person that would happily spit in the face of death.

 

He was getting antsy, veins aching for something, muscles twitchy, Saruhiko needed coffee and he needed it right away. Saruhiko slung his coat on, faux fur collar tickling his cheek, and left the room. The elevator was passable but the walls were marred and scratched, he was staring so hard at his blurred reflection that he'd hardly noticed when the elevator stopped at another floor until someone was moving into the elevator. It was a man that was a fair few inches taller than him, sharp framed glasses that made the man appear serious and self important, not to mention that the brand would have cost more than Saruhiko had ever paid for anything in his life. His own glasses were just simple frames, what mattered to him was that they were durable. The man's coat looked heavy and as expensive as the glasses, shoes shiny and apparently designer, everything tailored beautifully to his body. Saruhiko turned his eyes back to his smeary reflection, he didn't wonder long on why such a man would be in such a hotel, they were called love hotels for a reason.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Saruhiko could have sworn he saw the sharpness of a smirk in his elevator companion. It was irritating, standing in a metal box with someone who probably just got laid, he begged beings that he didn't believe in that no conversation would transpire between them. He had never been so lucky.

 

"I do wonder about the trends of youth," the man said, voice like nobility and reminded Saruhiko of the history lessons he'd mostly ignored.

 

"Hmm?" Saruhiko hummed in reply, something non-committal but not wholly rude.

 

"Those holes in your jeans, don't your knees get cold?" The man asked, sounding genuinely inquisitive instead of the usual intolerant dismissive manner that most people had when asking those kinds of questions.

 

"Yeah, I guess, it doesn't really bother me though," Saruhiko shrugged, not making eye contact as the man stared at him.

 

"Hmm, a sacrifice for fashion?" The man asked, he adjusted the cuff of his gloves, Saruhiko clenched his fists inside his pockets since he didn't have gloves.

 

"No, it's more like I've had these jeans for almost four years and these holes just sort of happened," Saruhiko explained, not that he really needed to but it was something that ticked him off. People who had everything never thought about the possibility of not having it.

 

"Heh, well at least your poverty is on trend then," the man said, returning the jab straight to Saruhiko's ribs.

 

"Heaven forbid it wasn't," Saruhiko said, rolling his eyes and the man genuinely laughed as the doors opened at the ground floor, pretty slender hand coming up to cover that pretty smile and Saruhiko wanted to drown himself in coffee.

 

"Thanks for the amusing ride," the man said as way of goodbye and Saruhiko couldn't think of something scathing enough to say so he stayed silent.

 

He needed caffeine, Saruhiko stood outside the hotel and pulled his phone from his pocket. He searched for a reasonable cafe nearby, he didn't want to go wandering around in the snow with his boots that were sure to give up on him some time soon. Saruhiko stepped through the slippery streets as the morning blistered its light upon the cracking concrete, the snow would soon be gone but it'd be back just as quick. He followed the direction on his phone, passing people going toward work, Saruhiko himself worked mostly at night and spent his mornings trying to fit into his skin.

 

Saruhiko never really felt like a human being in the way that other people presented it to him, he wore his own selfish and nihilistic humanity and that humanity required coffee. He pushed through the door of the cafe and it chimed, Saruhiko groaned internally and hope that this place wasn't all the popular. Eyes scanning the chalkboard behind the counter and above the server's heads, the writing was fancy and had so much effort put into it when Saruhiko was only going to order a black coffee.

 

With his coffee in hand and his wallet a few coins lighter, he sat in the corner beside the window and stared out into the street. He watched the people in their grey and black suits going off into the grey chilly morning, salary slaves shackled to the machine of capitalism. Saruhiko sipped at the steaming coffee and urged himself to get over whatever strange misery he was entertaining. He thought about looking for an apartment in the area, he was sure that he could find an affordable place that wasn't hideous. He'd never had a hard time finding a job either, always saying that he'd relocated whenever they asked why he left his last job, mostly though he worked from home as a freelance coder and IT support. When he was actually doing his job it paid fine, it was just recently that everything had lost its luster and that was usually when he moved, so he did. It was about time he got back to work.

 

His mind began to wander and he wonder what that man from the elevator did for a living, he had style but wasn't into trend, sharp speech and an evidently sharp mind. Saruhiko mentally slapped himself by downing the rest of the coffee, sneering at its bitter taste. What the hell did it matter what that man did, he'd likely never see them again anyway. He gnawed at the inside of his cheek as he rose and approached the door only to be faced with the very man he'd been thinking about, whatever face Saruhiko made in surprise he was not proud of it, was probably embarrassed by it even though he'd never say it.

 

"Oh, you didn't expect to see me again then?" The man asked through his smug smirk.

 

"How often do you expect to meet strangers?" Saruhiko returned, sharper now that he'd had his coffee.

 

"Caffeine reliant are we?" The man asked, showing his bright perfect teeth.

 

"So many people are these days," Saruhiko was vaguely aware that they were blocking the entryway, but he didn't care enough to make a move or even point it out. The world started to close in around them, his focus narrowed in on this man alone and Saruhiko was kicking himself for being taken in by the looks and wit of a total stranger.

 

"Yes, I've unfortunately fallen under the same spell," the man smiled and Suarhiko wanted to punch him because he looked so good. "Ah," the man exhaled and reached into his coat, "here take my card, I've got quite the packed schedule but I would enjoy spending more time in your prickly presence," he said, holding out the business card for Saruhiko to take.

 

"Okay," Saruhiko said numbly as he took the card and read the name, Munakata Reisi. He knew that name, he knew it from software and web design, the owner of Scepter 4 software company. Then Munakata pulled a pen out of his inside pocket and took Saruhiko's hands in his own, he wrote what was evidently a phone number onto the small card.

 

"Message me," Munakata said, voice cloying like sticky tape. He didn't allow Saruhiko the ability to reply and left toward the counter, Saruhiko couldn't think of anything to do besides leave the cafe.

 

Walking back toward the hotel, Saruhiko's mind began to whir faster as the distance between him and the man that had dazzled him grew. He began to wonder exactly what Munakata Reisi, owner of Scepter 4 among other things, wanted with him anyways. Munakata had said that he'd enjoyed Saruhiko's presence, they'd spent barely a few minutes together, but still Saruhiko would reluctantly agree just not aloud. Then again the man had been at the seedy hotel, the kind of place that people of Munakata's stature only frequented for a quiet and discrete hook ups. Saruhiko considered the probability that it was true, but he couldn't come up with anything conclusive with the small amount of information he had learnt about the other.

 

Saruhiko sighed as he entered his hotel room, business card burning a whole in his pocket. He pulled it out and left it on the bedside table where he could ignore it for a while. He took his coat off and hung it up inside the wardrobe, Saruhiko took great care with his things, he wouldn't have much money for a new coat or new shoes. Things like that were things you needed to spend a decent amount of money on for a coat or a pair of shoes that would be practical and last, that was the way of the world. He went back to his laptop, closed the shallow attempt at literature and submerged himself in the work he'd ignored for the past few weeks.

 

It began to turn dark and the sun was already dipping behind the cold geometric buildings, Saruhiko couldn't remember opening the curtains but he must have from the way light streaked across the mattress and his face. He rubbed his eyes, fingers under his glasses, he turned away from the window and his gaze fell upon the bedside table, business card coming into focus. Saruhiko finished up his work and closed his laptop, set it aside and shuffled to the edge of the bed. He took the card and held it up to scrutinise it, he ran his eyes over the indentation of the numbers Munakata had written with a ballpoint pen. The writing was thin and tall, elegant in that way that exceedingly educated people's writing was, it gave Saruhiko the same kind of impression that the man himself did.

 

Saruhiko clicked his tongue as he put the number into his phone and sent a message that he felt clearly portrayed his personality.

 

_I'm hungry._

Before Saruhiko could put down the phone, it buzzed in his hand with the notification of a new message. He raised his brow before opening it again, he read the message and tried not to smile at the reply.

 

I _don't usually buy dinner for people whose names I don't know._

 

Saruhiko's fingers flew over the keypad as he typed, eyes focused on the screen alone.

 

_You hadn't asked me for my name until now. I'm Fushimi Saruhiko and I'm staying in room 204._

The reply didn't come and Saruhiko realised he hadn't showered since he'd arrived the night before, he took the time to have a quick one and tried to wash away the thoughts of that sharp intelligent smile from his mind.

 

Over the years, Saruhiko had always seen those that chased people around like love sick puppies as prime beef with their necks exposed, put simply he thought love was for suckers but that didn't mean that he wouldn't have relationships with other people. It meant that the second he felt they were getting too close he'd bolt, he had itchy feet and couldn't stay in one place for too long. Allowing someone to learn too much about you, giving someone the information they needed in order to bleed you dry was insane, simply unthinkable to Saruhiko. He'd never make himself vulnerable.

 

He shrugged that bitterness away as he stepped out of the shower, that day was a fresh start and Saruhiko fully intended to enjoy it. He dressed as he would have any other day, wore the same jeans as he had before and checked his phone again. There wasn't anything to check and he slid his phone into his pocket, eyes scanning the sparse room, there wasn't anything to do and so he stood there being oddly out of place no matter how he stood. A harsh knock rapped against the door and Saruhiko jumped out of his skin at the sudden sound, heart hammering against his chest making him feel like an idiot.

 

Behind the door stood the Munakata looking sharp and smug, draped the same expensive coat that Saruhiko had noticed that very morning.

 

"Good evening Fushimi-kun," Munakata said, cordial and soft in the way he addressed Saruhiko.

 

"Hi," Saruhiko replied, making a contrast between himself and Munakata.

 

"Shall we?" Munakata asked, stepping away from the door like a gentleman.

 

Saruhiko checked himself over before leaving the room, closing the door behind him. Munakata's bright eyes shone at him in the wilting evening light, blues like pools drew him in and Saruhiko felt like taking part in a little self indulgence.

 

"It's a nice day so I thought we could walk to the restaurant," Manakata said as they stepped into the elevator, faced again with their blurry reflections.

 

"Yeah," Saruhiko replied in a kind of sigh.

 

"This winter quite suits your personality," Munakata said, smiling as sharp as a razor's edge.

 

"Likewise," Saruhiko returned, teeth closing together in something approaching a bite.

 

"My, standing around you makes me feel as though there's something snapping at my heels," Munakata said with great cheer.

 

The elevator jolted to a stop, jostling the pair of them so that their shoulders bumped. The doors slid apart, fracturing and tearing their already distorted reflections, they stepped out into the small lobby and walked past the reception desk. The weary clerk jumped out of his chair and bowed as they left, Saruhiko narrowed his eyes at Munakata as the automatic doors closed behind them.

 

"I own this hotel," Munakata clarified as he rubbed his hands together.

 

"Why?" Saruhiko asked incredulously, surely the other could afford the own a much better hotel, maybe even a five star hotel.

 

"It's somewhere I can go without being disturbed," Munakata said, shrugging off Saruhiko's accusatory gaze, "isn't that something you can relate to?" He asked, turning a sharp brow to the other.

 

"I wouldn't deny it," Saruhiko replied, hands deep in his pockets, "I don't make friends this easily," he added without really meaning to, but then again it was another way of saying 'don't expect to get too close.'

 

"Then I should think myself lucky," Munakata returned, smiling down at Saruhiko in such a self satisfied way that Saruhiko couldn't help but click his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

 

There was a long moment of silence as they walked side by side along the street, snow gone to water under the daylight. It was kind of nice to just be beside someone, there wasn't any expectations he had to live up to, no pulpit for him to sacrifice himself upon, he could just be and he felt free in that way.

 

"Fushimi-kun, I'm afraid I've something to confess," Munakata spoke up, voice measured and calculated.

 

"Go ahead, disappoint me," Saruhiko said, amused by the notion.

 

"I did a background check on you," Munakata announced and for some reason Saruhiko was surprised, which he was irritated by.

 

"I don't know why I expected any different," Saruhiko said, words whooshing out of him like a sighing breeze.

 

"I'll answer any questions you have since I took away your ability to freely give that information," Munakata said, looking down at Saruhiko like a completely rational and reasonable man.

 

"You took away my ability to give you information, sure, but what information do you have exactly?" Saruhiko asked, staring up at the other with narrow eyes.

 

"You finished high school like someone who found it insufferable from looking at your reports, moved from place to place because you never had a settled home, your father was quite the notorious venomous snake and you work as a freelance coder with a penance for poetry," Munakata said, not sounding particularly proud of himself, he sounded more like someone presenting a report.

 

"Two things," Saruhiko said, trying not to sound as bitter and spiteful as he wanted to be, suppressing the little bits of his father that he wanted surgically remove from himself. "I mean two things besides the gross invasion of my privacy," he amended, still mindlessly walking along with the other, unsure of what he'd do with his body were he not walking, "I'm pretty sure that you couldn't have legally gotten into my school records and how on Earth would you know that I have an 'penance for poetry'?" Saruhiko said, doing air quotes with his fingers.

 

"It's in the way you write your code," Munakata replied, smiling like a school boy that had been caught red handed doing something slightly naughty, "it has a flowing rhythm to it, like a functional, sturdy but gentle stream" he said, hand moving in the air like a gentle wave.

 

"Okay," Saruhiko murmured, unsure of exactly how to take the odd compliment. "Spill it, the exact same information from you otherwise I'm leaving," he said, but still he didn't stop walking, he felt as though the motion kept him stable and buoyant. Cold air biting at his gums every time he breathed, nipping at his just too thin coat.

 

"We'll I did well in school and made a lasting impression as an eccentric kind of genius, their words not mine, but I wouldn't quite disagree with the statement," Munakata began, eyes lost up in the land of nostalgia, "I didn't much care for it, but I did find it enjoyable to compete with others and beat them with ease," he said with the kind of sadistic smile that Saruhiko might have worn himself if he'd ever become social enough to be truly competitive. "I've lived in the same place since I left my family home, I have a brother and a sister, a fairly normal family so I stand out at reunions but that's about it," Munakata shrugged, heels slapping against the wet sidewalk. "You know what I do for a living and I too have quite the penance for the poetry of everyday life," he finished with a gentle smile, shadows stretched long on the ground before them. The lights of the stores, cafes and restaurants lit up around and above them, night slinking over them.

 

"Why did you feel the need to do a background check on me to only reveal everything about yourself later?" Saruhiko asked, brows pinched as he stared up at the other, showing his teeth as he clenched his jaw against the chattering.

 

"It's the same reason that you keep moving from town to town, a strong desire not to make myself vulnerable," Munakata said, knowing gaze focused down at the other, Saruhiko's dim but deep eyes hid behind the thick lenses of the other's glasses.

 

Saruhiko looked away, shoulders hunched and he curled in on himself, hating the way he'd been read so easily.

 

"Trust is something that has to be built and maintained, I've seen your code before, you're well known in the forums, when you're around that is," Munakata said, smile turning to a smirk that Saruhiko wouldn't see, "you're talented and someone I've been interested in for a while now, it was quite the brilliant coincidence to stumble upon a sharp and interesting young man inside my hotel who just so happened to be the same person I'd been following," Munakata said with a kind glee, Saruhiko almost couldn't believe the way that fate had twisted him so.

 

"You've been following my career?" Saruhiko asked, raising his head to quirk a bow up at the other.

 

"It's how I stay ahead of my competitors, hire the best talent as soon as they become available," Munakata shrugged as though it were obvious and Saruhiko supposed that it was.

 

"I guess it's a compliment," Saruhiko muttered, still feeling sour about Munakata's actions.

 

"What else would it be?" Munakata said with a slight chuckle and Saruhiko was having an irritatingly hard time staying anything approaching mad at Munakata while the man, who owned one of the top software companies, acted like a dandy that couldn't help but act upon his every whim. Imaginings of Oscar Wilde and other's of the same ilk came to mind. "Being vulnerable isn't so bad when you're prepared for it," Munakata said, sounding very much like the CEO of a company, business philosophy.

 

"I wouldn't expect vulnerability so soon," Saruhiko returned with his kneejerk response, he was annoyed but it wasn't though it was without reason.

 

"You take a risk with every move you make, just existing makes you vulnerable," Munakata replied, reasoning with Saruhiko's insecurities.

 

They came to a stop outside a quaint and inconspicuous ramen bar, Saruhiko hadn't really thought about it like that but he couldn't deny something like that when most days it felt as though just opening his eyes was an achievement, it was an interesting perspective to take on something he'd stubbornly allowed to rule his life.

 

"I guess it can only hurt," Suarhiko shrugged, stepping into the ramen bar first.

 

"That's the spirit," Munakata replied, smile wide enough to be asking for a fist.


End file.
